AUBURN - After six hours, 20 innings, 10 runs, 34 hits, 42 strikeouts and 14 pitchers, Thursday night's game - which turned into Friday morning's game - still hasn't been decided between the Auburn Doubledays and the Batavia Muckdogs.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
The Doubledays' Ryan Patterson slides into a force out at second base by the Muckdogs' John Hardy in their game Thursday evening.
A few hundred of the 3,242 fans in attendence at Falcon Park stuck around to see the game get suspended at 5-5 after 20 innings. The New York-Penn League has a rule that states an inning cannot start past 12:50 a.m. The Doubledays and Muckdogs were stuck at the five-run mark since the ninth inning when Auburn mounted a two-run comeback.
"It's ironic because I was talking with the umps about extra-innings before the game," Doubledays' manager Dennis Holmberg said. "This isn't anything new for me. I played in a 30-inning game once and managed a 21-inning game."
The Doubledays looked poised for a big day when they scored three runs off seven hits in the first two innings. Batavia starting pitcher Michael Zagurski settled in after the second and the Auburn bats began to cool.
Doubledays' starter Kristian Bell pitched solidly for 5 2-3 innings, allowing two runs off four hits. The score remained 3-2 until the Muckdogs tied it up in the eighth when Batavia's Brett Dalton doubled in a run.
In the top of the ninth, Doubledays' reliever Yesson Berroa allowed two more runs to score, leaving Auburn to face a 5-3 deficit entering the bottom of the inning.
Josh Celigoy singled to start off the inning and advanced to second on a Nick Thomas groundout. Manny Sena, who finished the game 5-for-8 singled Celigoy home and advanced to third following a Cory Patton hit. Ryan Patterson drilled a sacrifice fly to left to score Sena and tie the game 5-5. Cory Patton tried to score from second on a Jermy Acey single but was pegged at home by a perfect throw from Batavia right fielder Jordan Szabo.
Both team's bats went cold in the extra set. Auburn's bullpen nearly shutdown the Batavia offense, giving up only four hits and allowing no Muckdog base runner to make it past second.
The Doubledays on the other hand, had a lot of chances to win the game. They had the lead-off runner on base seven times in the 11 extra innings but were unable to manufacture a run.
"We had a lot of chances, but they made some nice throws," Sena said. "You have to just go to the plate, try the best you can, and try to win. This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this."
The Muckdogs' defense shone in the final innings. Batavia's center fielder, Julian Williams helped to keep the game going twice, throwing out two base runners at home plate in extra innings.
"We had some big hits, but they played some great defense," Holmberg said. "We hit the ball right at their outfielders. I've never had so many guys thrown out at the plate."
Although the Doubledays managed 20 hits, Holmberg was not happy with the production from the bottom of the lineup, which finished the game batting 7-for-38.
"Somebody's got to step up," Holmberg said. "We're not getting basic contributions by guys in the middle and end of the lineup. I've never seen so many guys give up so many at-bats."
The game, which was the longest in the history of Falcon Park, will resume at the top of the 21st on Aug. 14 at 5:05 p.m.
"It's ironic because I was talking with the umps about extra-innings before the game," Doubledays' manager Dennis Holmberg said. "This isn't anything new for me. I played in a 30-inning game once and managed a 21-inning game."
The Doubledays looked poised for a big day when they scored three runs off seven hits in the first two innings. Batavia starting pitcher Michael Zagurski settled in after the second and the Auburn bats began to cool.
Doubledays' starter Kristian Bell pitched solidly for 5 2-3 innings, allowing two runs off four hits. The score remained 3-2 until the Muckdogs tied it up in the eighth when Batavia's Brett Dalton doubled in a run.
In the top of the ninth, Doubledays' reliever Yesson Berroa allowed two more runs to score, leaving Auburn to face a 5-3 deficit entering the bottom of the inning.
Josh Celigoy singled to start off the inning and advanced to second on a Nick Thomas groundout. Manny Sena, who finished the game 5-for-8 singled Celigoy home and advanced to third following a Cory Patton hit. Ryan Patterson drilled a sacrifice fly to left to score Sena and tie the game 5-5. Cory Patton tried to score from second on a Jermy Acey single but was pegged at home by a perfect throw from Batavia right fielder Jordan Szabo.
Both team's bats went cold in the extra set. Auburn's bullpen nearly shutdown the Batavia offense, giving up only four hits and allowing no Muckdog base runner to make it past second.
The Doubledays on the other hand, had a lot of chances to win the game. They had the lead-off runner on base seven times in the 11 extra innings but were unable to manufacture a run.
"We had a lot of chances, but they made some nice throws," Sena said. "You have to just go to the plate, try the best you can, and try to win. This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this."
The Muckdogs' defense shone in the final innings. Batavia's center fielder, Julian Williams helped to keep the game going twice, throwing out two base runners at home plate in extra innings.
"We had some big hits, but they played some great defense," Holmberg said. "We hit the ball right at their outfielders. I've never had so many guys thrown out at the plate."
Although the Doubledays managed 20 hits, Holmberg was not happy with the production from the bottom of the lineup, which finished the game batting 7-for-38.
"Somebody's got to step up," Holmberg said. "We're not getting basic contributions by guys in the middle and end of the lineup. I've never seen so many guys give up so many at-bats."
The game, which was the longest in the history of Falcon Park, will resume at the top of the 21st on Aug. 14 at 5:05 p.m.
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